Human's Impact on Antartica
Uploaded by N_th_n on Feb 08, 2016
For just over 100 years people have been travelling to Antarctica and in that short time most parts have been visited. But we have left more than just footprints.
Some of the main threats include:
1. Climate change / Global warming
These are resulting in a warming sea and loss of ice. This is a great long-term threat to the region. Already some ice shelves have collapsed and ice slopes and glaciers have retreated. Oceanic acidification (from dissolved carbon dioxide) is already leading to the loss of some marine snails thought to have a significant part to play in the oceanic carbon cycle. The breeding populations and ranges of some penguin species have been altered.
2. Fishing, both legal and illegal
Much of the world's oceans are over-fished, the chances are that if investments into the kinds of boats and fishing gear needed for Antarctica are made, then it too will suffer this same fate. Fishing for krill could be particularly significant as these are at the bottom of many Antarctic food chains. There are already illegal fishers that ignore current regulations.
3. Tourism
With the accompanying pollutants that accompany ships and aircraft, the possibility of oil spills and the effects of lots of people and infrastructure on wildlife and the wider environment.
4. Pollution
CFCs and other gases that eat away at the ozone layer are responsible for the ozone hole that has appeared over Antarctica for over 30 years. Chemicals produced thousands of miles away are found in Antarctic ice and in the bodies of wildlife. Discarded equipment, chemicals and oil can degrade the landscape. Fishing nets, plastic, lines, hooks etc. carried by the sea can result in great suffering or loss of life by birds, fish and marine mammals.
The Antarctic has been polluted since the 1980’s. Around this time waste was only dealt with in three ways, burnt (if flammable), put to one side or dumped in the sea, polluting the waters.